The bugs can't help it

Forgotten for the past 17 years, underground creatures by the millions will invade the Poconos as they emerge from earthy forest soils.

The horror show begins with an invasion of grotesque, creepy-crawly nymphs burrowing up from tiny holes in the ground. With the help of their cleaver-like legs, they crawl inch by inch toward the nearest tree, shrub or structure — such as your home — and literally hang around.

Within a hour, an encore performance begins as the bizarre-looking nymphs break through their skin and transform into bumblebee-sized beasts.

If this bug fest doesn't have you bedazzled, it gets better as the newly transformed underground aliens with scary reddish-orange eyes become love-crazed and attempt to fly in search of a mate. Their chunky, oversized bodies defy physics and fly in reckless abandonment, crashing into trees, cars, joggers, hikers and bikers.

Once alighted high up in trees and other safe havens such as your roof, the male produces one of the strangest sounds in the insect world. I can only describe the eerie noise as what an extraterrestrial's vacuum cleaner would sound like — a continuous high-pitched buzzing.

The treetop symphony, compliments of the new bugs on the block, might become so loud it could seem deafening.

The 17-year cicada eruption known as "Brood II" is emerging this summer throughout eastern and central Pennsylvania. Don't panic and enjoy the show. They might look scary and quite boisterous, but heck, if you lived underground for nearly two decades, you'd be bug-eyed for a little companionship, anxious to take a test flight on your new set of wings and singing endless praises of your incredible journey in the loudest and most annoying way possible.

I can't wait for the sequel in 2026!

Contact Rick Koval at pocononaturalist@yahoo.com or write to him at PO Box 454, Dallas, PA 18612.